elpasospeak

The city is once again wasting money that we would not.

A recent Times article explained that the city has hired an out of town law firm for services related to  “normal legal acquisition of real estate and for the negotiation of any contracts for necessary properties” for the future performing arts center.

The firm has been given a budget of up to $1.8 million for the services.

According to the article the firm was involved in the purchase of 18 properties and thus far the city has paid them one million dollars.  That comes to over $55 thousand per property.

It doesn’t look like they did that good of a job either.  According to the Times:

The fair market value of the properties set by appraisers hired by the city totaled about $9 million, and the city agreed to pay $11.6 million for them. That’s nearly three times more than the $4.4 million assessed value listed on El Paso Central Appraisal District records.

In addition to the high costs we have to question whether there are no lawyers in El Paso who could have done this work.

We deserve better

Brutus

This came in from Jim Tolbert:

Time to Work Together for El Paso

El Paso has been compared to a crab pot. Just as soon as one crab makes it to the top, another pulls it down. This simile is true regarding our dreams, projects and politics. The politics of power and divisiveness in El Paso must end now.

I began my term on City Council as the one who had filed ethics complaints against Mr. Larry Romero and our City Manager, Mr. Tommy Gonzalez. Although I did not write those complaints (Susie Byrd did), I take responsibility for them because my name is on the complaints. The filings were a power play by one faction to tear down the current leadership of the City of El Paso. By the time that I left City Council, I had come to respect Mr. Gonzalez and appreciate his work for the City. He has chosen a superb management team.

The reasons for filing the complaint against Mr. Gonzalez were not valid. The complaint involved the pavement of an alleyway and the addition of speed humps on Stanton Street – two items that Mr. Gonzalez was authorized by the budget resolution to approve. Although Mr. Romero was on slippery grounds, one must ask whether trying to protect the safety of children and paving an alleyway were good causes for such opprobrium.

There were consequences to the Susie Byrd-Veronica Escobar cabal in which I took part. Mr. Romero had a stroke and Mr. Gonzalez was prevented from returning home to a sick and dying father. I am deeply sorry for the pain and agony my filing may have caused Mr. Gonzalez, his family and Mr. Romero.

The politics of power and divisiveness hurts individuals physically and emotionally, damages personal reputations and disrupts the City’s efforts to move forward. Thankfully and to use a football analogy, Mr. Gonzalez has been able to move the ball down the field despite those who want to prevent our City – our team – from scoring touchdowns. Those who wish to wrestle power for themselves seek total domination and control of the governance of El Paso just for power’s sake. Their calculations seem to be done without conscience.

One may not agree with our City Manager’s style of leadership. However, it is his prerogative. Truly professional people, who may differ with the style, nevertheless work as team members. Some may also not like Mr. Gonzalez’s personality. Most of us learned in youth how to get along. Certainly, professional people understand the value for doing so. Making personality an issue is just petty. Of course, Mr. Gonzalez has his faults. All of us do.

Let’s all come together as El Pasoans and work for progress and the common good and common wealth for all El Pasoans. It’s time to be humans with souls and not crabs with claws.

Jim Tolbert
2701 Frankfort Avenue
El Paso, TX 79930
915-525-7364
diegotolbert@gmail.com